South Australia rated in world’s top three for oil and gas investment

South Australia has rated in the world’s top three places to explore for oil and gas in a newly released global survey by the Fraser Institute in Canada.

The respected public policy think tank asks petroleum industry executives each year for their views about barriers to investment in jurisdictions around the world and compiles the results into a policy perception index.

The 2017 survey of 333 respondents rated South Australia as the third-most attractive place for petroleum investment out of 39 jurisdictions with small reserves, behind only Kansas and Saskatchewan.

By contrast, Victoria and the Northern Territory ranked second-last and third-last respectively. Western Australia ranked 18th, while Queensland was well down the order in 29th position.

South Australia’s strong showing also contrasted with deteriorating views about investment in Australia’s offshore areas, which are under Commonwealth control. Offshore Australia ranked 38 out of 97 jurisdictions, compared to 26 last year.

CEO of Adelaide-based advisory firm EnergyQuest, Dr Graeme Bethune, said the results were a big endorsement of the state’s energy policies and regulatory regime.

“South Australia and Queensland are the only states now without bans or moratoria of some kind of gas exploration and development. This survey shows that international companies take notice and it shapes their ideas about where to invest.”

“South Australia stands even higher than Queensland in the survey because of its first-rate regulatory regime and support for investment, which has included this year’s PACE Gas initiative.”